A SCHOOL in Darlington will be one of the first in the North to try and improve its GCSE results by reducing the number of exams students take.

The change will affect some students at the Education Village, Darlington, and is one of a number of ideas that will revolutionise education at the £33m school.

The plan was the idea of David Bradley, who will be one of three headteachers at the Education Village, which opens in November. Some pupils will take only five GCSEs.

Mr Bradley also aims to:

* End traditional learning, making lessons more "hands-on" with less writing.

* Mix academic subjects with recreational activities and courses in gardening, care in the community, hairdressing and motor vehicle technology.

* Encourage talented pupils to take their GCSEs early.

The moves come at a time when education in the town has been heavily criticised and performance is poor.

Mr Bradley said he wanted to "concentrate on the here and now", giving children a good experience, instead of just preparing them for life when they left.

The Education Village combines Haughton Community School, Springfield Primary School and Beaumont Hill Special School, teaching children from the age of two to 19.

The first of its kind in the country, it is designed to put children with special educational needs at the heart of the community.

Mr Bradley said: "What we are interested in is every child getting five good GCSEs. Some of our students here take 13 GCSEs, but some don't like writing and it is not one of their strengths. Success breeds success, so if they like dance, they should do more dance," he said.

He also plans to change the way lessons are taught.

"We still expect kids to learn through what I call jug and mug - where we are the jug and pour the information into them, the mug. But I want to introduce much more active and engaging lessons, getting them to think, with less writing."

Mr Bradley said they would improve results and produce well-rounded pupils.

"This approach is unusual but it has worked in inner city schools. There is evidence that it works," he said.

"If children are not good at writing, they feel a sense of failure every time they go into the classroom or the exam room."

Last year, only 36 per cent of pupils at Haughton achieved the benchmark of five A* to C grades at GCSE.

And a recent report by Darlington Borough Council said: "Much work needs to be done to raise standards in many areas at Haughton School."

Mr Bradley said: "I want to unhitch the curriculum and be creative with it, I want students to be doing subjects they like. There should be more choice and we will focus on individual needs, rather than a curriculum based on age."

He said there were some excellent teachers at the school and the Education Village was a wonderful opportunity for everyone to broaden their experience.

There will be 200 staff at the village. "I think a lot of our staff will discover talents they never thought they had," he said.

In the long-term, Mr Bradley hopes to introduce tutor groups made up of children of all ages and abilities.

This, he said, would give pupils a feel of what life was like in the real world, encourage the older ones to look out for the younger ones and develop a sense of family.

Mr Bradley and the headteachers of Springfield Primary and Beaumont Hill will work with Della Smith, the village's chief executive. Decisions will be taken as a team, with an annual budget of £7m.

A spokesman for the Department of Education and Skills (DfES), said: "The national curriculum allows schools considerable flexibility to develop their own curriculum to meet the needs of their pupils and to introduce new approaches to teaching and learning."

The village has attracted national attention. In December, the DfES will host a conference in Darlington, which will put the village on the national stage